Stigler held economists gain real influence only through technical work, not public advocacy

Evidence

But “society” doesn’t purchase knowledge. People do, and for specific purposes. Students decide from which college or university to purchase knowledge. Patrons of research do much the same: in an unpublished 1977 lecture whose title “To What Tune Does Science Dance?” clearly echoed Rogge, Stigler observed: “[the] huge area of antitrust & I[ndustrial] O[rganization economics] in [the] US [was] generated by both public policy and business defenses against it.” Stigler was in an excellent position to make such an observation. He played an important role in developing a distinctive Chicago approach to industrial organization, and had consulted for firms facing antitrust action. Economists develop ideas in response to consumer demand for them. In Stigler’s words, the economist was a “customer’s man.” … The argument led Stigler to state what he himself called a “paradoxical” conclusion: economists are truly influential only when they work on technical matters for an audience of technical economists and not when they speak directly to society. (Here we encounter yet another expression of the belief that the teaching of economics is mostly inconsequential.) Only in the former case will economists achieve the fundamental effect of changing the platform upon which policy debates take place, a change due to the special reception given by the public and polity to science. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 148

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader study of how Chicago-school ideas were actually transmitted to policy, complementing earlier notes on reputation and institutions. — connects to: George Stigler, not Friedman, led the marketplace-of-ideas project and opposed public outreach — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 99; Stigler distinguished the economist’s scientific output from his popular advocacy. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 147; Stigler held that society needs economic science but not economists’ popular writings. (+3 more)
• DEFINE: Introduces the ‘customer’s man’ model of the economist, an early statement of what later became the economic imperialist / market-for-ideas thesis.

Broader Connections

• Stigler held that society needs economic science but not economists’ popular writings. #corroborates (0.90)
• Stigler sought patron influence by reshaping economics itself rather than public opinion. #expands (0.85) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 152
• Stigler believed intellectual popularity and influence worked against each other #corroborates (0.85) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 437
• Stigler doubted that the public’s demand for economic science was significant. #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 146